So Craig goes to Blackpool and another good dancer goes home.

Are we going down the 'John Sergeant ' route again.

"I am certainly the underdog right now, but I would like to think the public think I have got potential and am not just a bit of a character,"

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/strictly...-underdog.html

Former Coronation Sreet star Craig said: "What better present to myself than to nail this waltz and to get to Blackpool."

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/bl...eam.5784513.jp

I don't think we can compare Craig with John Sergeant. Craig seems like a nice enough chap but colourless. John Sergeant was a real character and, though not much of a dancer, was streets ahead of Craig.

JS did not think he could dance, and he was also somewhat entertaining. There is a difference...

I have a feeling that Craig will be out next week.....

The GBP have got him to Blackpool as he wanted ... now he can go with his head held high.

My hunch is that it's playing the Blackpool card that's helping to keep him in more than anything...don't ask me why...and, if so, then it's a unique situation in the history of the show so far. I don't think he's much of a personality, I can't see any real comedy or other entertainment value to his dancing and I don't believe even the loony fringe voters have convinced themselves he's being 'bullied'.

Or 'no' in other words.

Much at the producers are probably hoping this will be the case so they can stoke up some 'controversy' (:yawn, no - he's not. Not by a long way.

JS brought his personality to the dancefloor. Craig doesn't. Whether you liked JS or not - and he wasn't my cuppa - it was easy to see why the public engaged with him. The fact that he baited the judges probably won him as many points as his performances aside. Craig just comes across as rather bland and ineffectual.

The producers need to rethink their publicity drive. It's not very well-thought out and they will, I'm sure, be getting it in the neck from the judges now. As with their previous botched headline-grabbing attempts, however, once the genie is out of the bottle, it's hard to get it back in ...

First tip: shut down the whole 'Craig's going to Blackpool' hype and get the judges to temper their comments or, better still, redirect their venom at another contestant with public support. After all, that trick worked a treat with Joe Calzhage ...

He's not this series John Sergeant, but is much more like this series Kate Garraway! A poor dancer occasionally rising to the level of acceptable, but kept in beyond their time by the GBP!!

JJ

I only really started watching properly last year so can't comment on previous series but I think the big difference is that John Sergeant didn't knock anybody out who was being touted as a potential winner. Ali was an early front-runner and the judges said tonight that Zoe could really challenge.

I know that superior dancers to John were eliminated before he stood down last year but I still don't think he survived in the competition at the expense of anybody who would have made the final based on their dance ability alone.

The only thing that Craig and John do have in common is that, in Week 7, they are the worst celebrity dancers left in the competition. I always found John's "appeal" for votes to be hugely self-deprecating and his performances laugh out loud entertaining (much like Todd Carty's one on Dancing on Ice when he went flying off backstage). Craig doesn't show any personality and his dancing is not remotely entertaining to watch. This is why I don't understand the BBC giving so much airtime to his endless "I want to get to Blackpool" crap. What will we have next week ... "I work in London so really want to get to the final?"

Accurate!!

I was very fond of JS...

He's no JS that's for sure.

JS was the master of cult like "badness". He knew he was no good, but revelled in it
Fiona Phillips is up there too, but wasn't adept enough to carry off the showmanship of being rubbish.
Chris Parker, bless his cotton socks, knew he was bad and embraced it.

Craig is more akin to Andrew Castle.

Some celebs just plateau and no amount of training hours
in a week is going to change their dancing level.

No. John was funny, entertaining and non-delusional!

spot on

Based on last night's performance, I think the right person left.

I don't care that she was a contender to win, or that's she's really a good dancer having a bad time. On the night, I hated that awful dance she did - almost as much as I hated that green feather thing she was (almost) wearing.

So actually, although Craig isn't much of a dancer, on the night, I preferred watching his effort.

That's a no and a no from me.

No matter what people thought of John he was at least entertaing to watch on the dance floor and I know that some of that was down to Kritina's clever routines. He KNEW he couldnt dance but some of his dances will go down in strictly history. Craig has done nothing to make me want to see him again EVER and to compare him to someone like John Sergeant or some of the other 'terrible' but very entertaining dancers we have had on Strictly is just wrong.....he is in the Mark Foster and Andrew Castle mould juse DULL

yeah - Craig is NOT entertaining. I can understand people living in Blackpool and voting for him though...having said that I live right by Ricky Whittle and I am not voting for him.......

Craig is at least trying, even if it is not helping and if people vote for him, because he wants to be in Blackpool, then OK, there were stupider reasons than that. John Sergeant had this attitude that I am not bothered to try harder, because people will vote for us anyway, which pissed me off.

There's no doubt Craig is extremely trying. The comparison with Andrew Castle is a good one, although at least AC had the dignity not to grovel for votes and sympathy.

I completely agree.

Going off-topic further It's ironic that of all the contestants that have been critiqued for their facial expressions - Craig, Tuffers, Chris, Ricky G - Zoe and James have never been pulled up for their Rigor Mortis grins. If I had to watch them dance one more time I might be in real danger of catching whatever caused their constipation.

As to the OP. I really enjoyed watching John and Kristina last year. I voted for them more than once and was sad to see John leave. Craig, on the otherhand, well I have suffered with him, which isnt the same at all, and while I've admired his efforts they havent had me running to put him on speed-dial.

He can't play an audience like John can; I get the feeling the momentum of the "Blackpool" train was totally out of his control, he looks as shell-shocked as the rest of us. As John would say, the dear boy doesnt understand politics.

Yes, but I don't know why?
I don't watch Corrie but I loved Cool as Folk, but I still think he is the weakest dancer out of the remaining lot!
He has no rhythm, he's stiff and at this stage, I doubt that he will improve!
The only thing he had was this 'get me to Blackpool' campaign, which he has achieved to the cost of Zoe.
Now he's going, they should get rid before another decent dancer goes!!

I thought Strictly was doing the right thing so far this year with the worst dancers going each week. I had a feeling that Mr Kelly woul upset the apple cart!
Last edited by Numnum71 : 01-11-2009 at 12:35

I quite like Craig but he's not got the charm or the wit of JS, also he's not as good a dancer as JS. Let's not forget JS did actually do a lovely Waltz and a priceless Paso. So for me he fails on the two most important areas of SCD as we've yet to see him dance anything remotely as good as Jon's Waltz or as entertaining as the Paso!

If Craig is made into a "JS" type of figure then it's because the judges have helped to create it by throwing their toys out of their prams. Forgive me if I sound a little cynical but, JS helped boost the ratings and the revenue for the Beeb last year and maybe they feel that the show needed a "shock" result. The twinnies have done it for X-Factor and a week later Craig has done it for SCD.

Craig is no JS. John was smart, funny and not deluded about his dancing potential.

I really don't understand why people are voting to keep Craig in - he's a poor dancer and doesn't seem to have a personality!!

He was in a soap. They always seem to get the popular vote, unfortunately. Sadly, a vast proportion of the British public think that justifies him to stay in a dancing competition, despite him having two left feet.